October 2012 Newsletter
Kettle Moraine Counseling
Fall leaves are turning earlier this year; the Northwood’s’
leaves were at peak a week ago- sure is beautiful outside right now. I am going to NYC to see my oldest in a few
weeks and I am very excited to spend some time with him. The concrete sidewalks
in NYC really hurt my feet so I am looking for good walking shoes (looking at
clogs with good support), but I can never find comfortable shoes for my wide
feet : ( . At the clinic, Tammy Ricke
and Lester Menke have moved over to the Cedarburg office where they will be
seeing clients. That makes 4 therapists
at Cedarburg: Tammy, Lester, Jennifer Skinner and JoEllyn Schultz. Deb Graf and Christina Lachner are doing some
training for foster families, and I have included that information in this
newsletter. Badgercare has had some
recent changes with United Healthcare no longer being a provider and some
clinics no longer taking Badgercare clients.
At our clinic we will continue to serve Badgercare clients, and we take
all the HMO’s for Washington County
Parents of foster or adoptive children experience many
challenges that most people don’t understand. Did you know there is a support
group for you? It’s called Washington and Ozaukee County Foster Parent
Support Group. Besides receiving support, attendance at these sessions
also provides CEU’s for foster parent training hours! KMC’s counselors, Deb
Graf and Christina Lachner, are presenters at the next two meetings.
If you are interested in attending the sessions below, or
other sessions, please RSVP to Jamie Webber, 262/346-8294 or jwebber17@att.net
EMDR Reduces Anxiety and Trauma Symptoms
EMDR stands for “Eye Movement, Desensitization and
Reprocessing”. Developed by Francine Shapiro in the late 1900’s, this
researched psychotherapeutic approach uses bilateral stimulation to “unfreeze”
traumatic body memories, integrate the thinking and feeling sides of the brain,
and rapidly process the memories in order to provide freedom from anxiety and
trauma symptoms. In this workshop, participants will briefly understand what
EMDR is, how EMDR works, and observe EMDR in action. In addition, Deb will
teach parents how to use bilateral stimulation to create a “safe place” for
your child so that your child can physically relax, and hopefully sleep better
at night.
Children’s Grief: Recognize Symptoms and Help Child
Cope
Unfortunately, foster children experience many significant
losses: birth parents, siblings, schools, friends, caregivers, different homes
and rules, loss of innocence due to neglect and/or abuse, stability…. Since
children don’t have the coping skills to deal with their grief, they usually
avoid emotions and become “numb”, which creates more anxiety and behavior
problems. Biological children also grieve over the addition of foster kids to
their family (not as much time with parents, have to share house and toys…),
and again when the foster children leave. During this workshop, participants
will be able to identify the numerous losses children experience, recognize
grieving behaviors at various age levels, implement emotional safety techniques
so children feel safe to grieve, and
develop coping strategies to help their children process their grief.
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